


Unexpected

by darthrevaan (Burning_Nightingale)



Series: Send Me A Ship AU Fics [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, F/M, One Night Stands, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 14:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3653586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burning_Nightingale/pseuds/darthrevaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I guess this’ll be easier if I just say it straight,” Hera said, laying both her hands flat on the table and looking at them, not Kanan. “I…I’m pregnant.”</p><p>For a moment, Kanan just sat looking at her in blank shock. Then the first thing he could think of tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop it; “But I thought humans and Twi’leks couldn’t reproduce!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fadburger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fadburger/gifts).



> Written for an AU ask meme, prompt: one night stand and falling pregnant AU

“Kanan, seriously, you have to get over her now.”

Kanan pushed a nut across the surface of the bar with the tip of one finger. “I’m over her. Completely. Totally over it.”

Zeb let out an aggrieved sigh. “You’re hopeless.”

“I said I was over her!” Kanan protested loudly. “It was just a one night thing. It didn’t mean anything.”

“ _That’s_ what I keep trying to tell  _you_ ,” Zeb insisted, gulping down another few mouthfuls of his ale. “She was a lost princess who accidently wandered into a bar too rough for her, and she ended up going home with you since you’re the only half-decent looking guy in the place.”

“Since ‘half-decent’ is the probably the closest thing to a compliment I’m ever going to get from you, thanks, I guess.”

Zeb snorted. “Just have another drink and stop moping.”

After another ale, Kanan didn’t feel like he was in a better mood. He keep trying to tell himself that it was silly to mope – and that was what he was doing, really – over a girl he’d known for  _one night_ , who’d left quite promptly in the morning without leaving a comm number, but it was easier to say than to believe it.

The cantina was small, lively and, as Zeb had said, a little bit rough round the edges, but it was their regular haunt. It was doing a good trade tonight, with the bell above the door ringing enough that Kanan didn’t look round each time it opened to check if it was one of the other regulars. This was why Zeb noticed the woman behind him before he did, and he had the momentary warning of Zeb’s face going slack with surprise before a finger tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned, beginning to voice a question, but his voice cut off as he got a look at the person behind him. “Oh, hey,” he said, feeling a grin begin to spread uncontrollably across his face. “Hera, right?”

“Kanan.” Kanan’s momentary elation that she remembered his name deflated slightly when he realized she wasn’t smiling back at him. “I’m glad I found you,” she said, though she didn’t look it. “Can I talk to you, please?”

“Sure.” He glanced around the bar. “Here, or…?”

“Just…come with me.” She walked away, toward the door, and Kanan shrugged apologetically at Zeb before following her.

Outside the air was chilly, and Hera walked quickly across the street to a brightly-lit all night diner. The bell over the door tinkled brightly as they came in, and the young Theelin waitress gave them a smile and told them to take a seat anywhere they liked, she’d only be a minute.  

Hera chose a booth by the window and sat, resting her elbows on the table and twining her fingers together, her expression serious. Kanan slipped into the seat opposite her with no small amount of trepidation. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

“I-it’s- yes,” Hera eventually sighed. She glanced in the direction of the waitress. “You remember a few weeks ago when we…” She made an expansive gesture with her hand.

Kanan nodded slowly. “I hope you’ll take it as a compliment when I say you’re hard to forget.”

For a brief second, something resembling a smile passed over her face. Then she turned serious again. “Well, it’s about…you see I, um…” She struggled for a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t leave my comm number,” she blurted.

Kanan could tell that hadn’t been what she intended to say, but the waitress came over before she could speak again. “Just a cup of caf, please,” Kanan said quietly.

“Same,” Hera said, then paused. “Oh, actually, do you have waffles?”

“Sure,” the waitress smiled, “Cream? Berries? We have tikla and piri today.”

“Yes, cream and the piri, please.”

The waitress smiled and walked off, leaving them in silence for a few moments. “I haven’t had waffles for ages,” Hera said, sounding slightly sheepish.

“I ate at home, so I won’t be stealing,” Kanan said, trying for light-hearted.

It worked, sort of; Hera looked slightly less awkward. “I guess this’ll be easier if I just say it straight,” she said, laying both her hands flat on the table and looking at them, not Kanan. “I…I’m pregnant.”

For a moment, Kanan just sat looking at her in blank shock. Then the first thing he could think of tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop it; “But I thought humans and Twi’leks couldn’t reproduce!”

Hera did not look impressed. “That’s a myth. Didn’t you cover this in Biology class? Or Sexual Education?”

“Um,” Kanan said, because his mind was too scrambled to remember either of those classes right now. “I guess?” There was a cool silence, then he shook his head. “Sorry, that was stupid. Er, okay, well…” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I mean, do you…what do you need me to do?”

Hera sighed softly. “I still haven’t decided if I want to keep it yet. I still haven’t…told my dad.”

“Okay.” They sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Kanan continued, “I mean, you should do whatever you feel most comfortable with.”

Hera nodded. “Thanks,” she said, her voice soft.

When she didn’t say anything else Kanan asked tentatively, “Do you think your dad will disapprove?”

Surprisingly, Hera snorted. “You’re human. He’s going to go supernova.”

With that worrying admission the waitress reappeared, carrying their two cups of caf. “Waffles’ll be just a few more minutes,” she assured Hera with a smile.

“Maybe I’m craving waffles,” Hera said with a half-hearted smile after she’d gone.

“Better than craving pickled fish like my mum,” Kanan said with a grin.

Hera’s smile got a little bigger. Then she looked away. “Will your parents disapprove?”

Kanan shook his head. “My biological parents passed away when I was a small child. Everything I know about them I was told by my adoptive mother.” Kanan thought about it for a moment. “I reckon she’ll be okay with it.”

“Well…that’s good.”

Because he just couldn’t help himself, Kanan asked, “Will it really be trouble, when your dad finds out?”

“He’s a bit of a ‘Ryloth is for the Twi’leks’ kind of guy,” Hera admitted.

“He’s not gonna kick you out or anything?”

Hera laughed. “I have my own place, and my own source of income. I’ll be okay.” She eyed him. “Speaking of, what do you do for a living?”

“I teach. Math, at one of the local schools.” He made a face. “Teenagers.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re a teacher and you’re hanging out at a dive like that?” She jerked her head in the direction of the cantina.

Kanan grimaced. “It’s Zeb’s kinda place. My Lasat friend. His job’s not exactly…savoury.”

Hera snorted. “It’s okay, I know his type. Good guy in bad work.”

“That’s it, yeah.” Kanan took a sip of his caf. “What about you? What do you do?”

“Freight shipping,” Hera said casually. “I have my own ship.”

“And when you say you have your own place…?”

“That would be the  _Ghost_ , yes.”

Kanan shrugged. “No rule against it.”

“Quite.” The waitress appeared with Hera’s waffles, and she got stuck in. “So…You’ll help me, then? If I have it?” she asked, focusing on her food.

“Anything you need.”

After a couple of mouthfuls, she asked quietly, “Do  _you_ think I should keep it?”

Kanan thought about it for a while. “I certainly wouldn’t say no. I love kids. But you gotta do what works for you.”

Hera nodded. They sat in silence for a while before Kanan said tentatively, “But I wouldn’t mind, y’know…this,” he gestured between them, “Getting to know you.”

She gave him a little smile. “I wouldn’t mind that, either.”

/

After he and Hera parted ways, Kanan couldn’t face going back to the cantina, so he sent a message apologizing to Zeb and went home. His adoptive mother and grandfather were still up, sitting side by side on the sofa watching the news on the Holonet. Depa was sitting cross-legged, cradling a hot cup of herbal tea in her hands, looking relaxed. Mace was pretty much the opposite, sitting stiffly and glaring at the screen with a scowl.

“You’re back early,” Depa commented as he dropped his bag in the hall.

“Yeah.” Kanan came in and sat in the armchair across from them. They both turned their attention from the holoscreen to him, scrutinizing him in the unsettling way he’d now become used to.

“You have the look of a man who has just received momentous news,” Depa observed.

“No, I recognise that look,” Mace said, his expression suspicious. “That’s the look of a man who has just royally fucked up.”

“Mace!” Depa protested.

Kanan put his head in his hands. “No, he’s right.”

“What did I tell you,” Mace said smugly.

Depa sighed heavily. “What did you do?”

“Let’s just say, you might be a grandma real soon.”

There was a moment of silence. “But that would make me a great-grandfather,” Mace spluttered. “I’m not even seventy yet!”

“You’re certainly pushing it,” Depa commented drily. Then she turned to Kanan and looked at him seriously. “I ‘might’ be? Is there some doubt?”

“She hasn’t decided if she wants to keep the baby yet,” Kanan muttered.

“I assume this isn’t some long-term secret girlfriend.”

“No. Just someone I met at a cantina.”

Depa sighed. “So, what are you going to do?”

Kanan shrugged. “She’s got my comm number. She said she’d call when she made a decision, and we’d go from there.”

Mace shook his head. “A great-grandfather, at my age.”

“Hush you. You’re not exactly getting grey hair,” Depa said with a wink.

“Are you mad?” Kanan asked.

Depa shrugged. “Maybe it could have been better circumstances…but I’m sure you’ll work it out. Plus, you’re old enough to have kids now, and you have a stable job.”

Kanan glanced around. “Maybe I should move out. Y’know, get my own place.”

Depa shrugged again. “Whatever you want, K.”

/

Hera had been nervous about meeting Kanan, but it hadn’t gone anywhere as bad as she thought it might have. In fact, it had been pretty good. Sitting there with him, their chatting getting slightly easier as it went on…it almost made her feel hopeful about the whole situation.

Still running on the adrenaline of getting the secret off her chest to one person, she decided to keep going and tell someone else before her nerve failed. It being the end of the week meant more people were up late, and even though it was near midnight Ahsoka answered her call. Within another fifteen minutes Hera was being let in her front door.

“You sounded worried on the comm,” Ahsoka said as she drew her into a tight hug. “Is something wrong?”

“Kinda,” Hera admitted.

“Girl talk?” Ahsoka asked. Hera nodded. “Right. Upstairs then.” She led her through the hall, pausing to poke her head around the living room door, from which was issuing the unmistakable sound of a boloball game playing on the holoscreen. “Me and Hera are going upstairs for a while, okay? For a chat of the not to be disturbed type.”

“Okay. We’ll be here if you need anything,” Hera heard Rex say.

“Also, your team are losing abysmally,” another voice said.

Ahsoka snorted. “Shut up Fives, we’re gonna crush you.” She turned to Hera with a grin. “Come on, then.”

It was easier to tell Ahsoka than it had been to tell Kanan. Ahsoka drew her into a long, tight hug, and they stayed like that for a few minutes, not speaking. Then Ahsoka drew back and asked gently, “So what are you going to do?”

“I already talked to the father. Kanan. He seemed fine with it, if I want to keep it.” Hera wiped her eyes, since they’d started to tear up a little. “And I did always just assume I’d be in a relationship first, but I would quite like to have a baby…” She sighed. “It’s just…dad.”

Ahsoka chewed her lip. “Yeah, I can see how that’s gonna be a problem.” She nodded firmly. “I think we need expert advice. Do you wanna call mom of the year?”

Hera giggled. “She is the expert. But I thought Padmé’s parents liked Anakin?”

“Oh, they do  _now_. They weren’t so sure about him when she first brought him home.” Ahsoka sniggered. “Apparently Skyguy used to be a bit of a rebel against authority. And no parent thinks being an artist is a serious career.”

“Yeah, but isn’t his granddad like, seriously loaded?” Hera asked.

“Rolling in it,” Ahsoka nodded. “You should see where he lives, it’s like, a  _huge_  mansion. But anyway,” Ahsoka brought out her comm. “They usually stay up late and get sloshed with Obi-Wan on Fridays, so they should be up.”

The comm rang a couple of times before it was picked up. “Hi, Ahsoka,” Padmé said, “I thought you’d be gripped by the bolo match right now?”

“Emergency,” Ahsoka said, “Are you on speaker?”

“No. What’s wrong?”

Ahsoka looked to Hera for confirmation, and she nodded. “Hera’s pregnant.”

There was a moment of silence from the other end of the line. “Oh! Well that is big news. Do you want me to come over?”

“Y’know what, we’ll come to you,” Ahsoka said. “See you in ten.”

They breezed back down the hall, Ahsoka barely pausing to shout, “I’m going out, be back soon!” There was a call of acknowledgement from the living room, and then they were out the door and into Ahsoka’s speeder, where she turned up the music and drove faster than was probably advisable.

“Are you under the limit?” Hera asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t had anything. That’s why I suggest we come over here; Padmé’s probably been at the wine with the others.”

Instead of ringing the doorbell Ahsoka just strode straight in, and was instantly tackled by a slim, dark-haired figure. “Hi Ahsoka!” a young voice said brightly.

Ahsoka laughed. “Hey, princess. Isn’t it past bedtime for you?”

“It  _is_ a weekend,” Leia said, pulling away and grinning up at her. Then she caught sight of Hera and her smile seemed to get wider. “Hi, Hera! I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“And just what are you doing down here, Leia Skywalker?” Padmé said sternly. She was standing in the doorway to the living room, hands on hips.

“ _Mooom_ , I only wanted to say hello,” Leia said, pouting.

A smile tugged at the edge of Padmé’s lips. “Well, now you’ve said hello, so it’s bedtime.”

Leia scowled. “I can’t believe I have a bedtime still. I’m  _fourteen_.”

“Yes, you’re almost a grown up already.” Padmé came over and kissed the top of Leia’s head. “Come on, you’ve got ballet early in the morning tomorrow.”

Leia grumbled, but said her goodnights and went upstairs. Hera caught movement at in the shadows behind the bannisters, and got a glimpse of Luke, grinning down at her and waving a little, before Leia hustled him back to their bedroom with her.

“Let’s go into the kitchen,” Padmé suggested.

They sat down around the scrubbed wood table in Padmé’s immaculate kitchen, and proceeded to tell her the whole story.

“Well,” Padmé said after they’d finished, “At least he didn’t run out of the restaurant when you told him. In fact he seems quite pleasant.”

“Yeah, he’s…alright, I think.” Hera shrugged. “The problem is dad.”

“Well.” Padmé laced her fingers together. “I’m not one to condone lying, but perhaps seeing how he reacts to the idea of you having a child first, before you mention the father is human, would be a good idea.”

“More like ‘omitting certain key information’,” Ahsoka said with a sly grin.

Hera nodded slowly. “Yes. I think that would work.” She scowled. “Besides, it’s not my fault he’s a bigot.”

“Exactly,” Ahsoka nodded emphatically.

“Maybe you should call him now?” Padmé suggested.

Hera shook her head. “He’ll be in bed.” She glanced at the clock. “Besides, I have to be getting home.” She stood up. “Thank you for your help, both of you.”

“Anytime,” Ahsoka smiled.

/

Zeb had been surprisingly excited when Kanan told him the news. “I’m gonna be an uncle,” he’d said gleefully.

“ _No one_ is making you an uncle,” Kanan had snapped, but Zeb hadn’t been listening.

Try as he might, Kanan hadn’t been able to stop worrying about the whole situation. He’d kept his comm on constantly, even in class where he usually turned it off, just in case Hera called. Hera hadn’t, yet. He even kept it on in his after school tutoring sessions, and he was more distracted than his pupil.

“Are you feeling okay, Mr Dume?” Ezra asked him about halfway through the lesson.

Kanan sighed. If even Ezra had noticed something was off, he really wasn’t on his game. “I’m expecting an important call,” he admitted. “It’s keeping me kind of on edge.”

Ezra suddenly looked worried. “You’re not getting a new job, are you?”

Kanan laughed. “No, nothing like that. Come on, let’s focus on fractions.”

Tutoring finished at six, and it took Kanan another half hour to get from Ezra’s house to his. As he toed his shoes off and hung up his coat, Depa poked her head round the kitchen door. “Still no call?” she asked sympathetically.

Kanan shook his head. “Still nothing.”

They had dinner together that night, some new kind of stew that Depa was trying out the recipe for. “I think this one went quite well,” she mused, spooning up some more of the concoction.

Mace agreed quietly, but Kanan hadn’t even heard her. He was off in his own world, trying to imagine what it would be like to be a father.

It was then that his comm went off. He leapt for it, completely forgetting to even offer an apology to the others for abruptly leaving the dinner table. “Hello?” he asked breathlessly, praying it wasn’t just Zeb.

“Kanan,” Hera’s voice said. She sounded upset. “I decided to keep the baby.”

Kanan’s stomach flipped, but it was with real enthusiasm that he said, “Great, okay, that’s really great.” Then he paused. “Are you okay, though? You sound...”

Hera sniffed quietly. “I had a big fight with my dad,” she said. “I was just going to tell him about having the baby but then he demanded to know who the father was and it just kind of slipped out...”

“Oh, oh man, Hera I’m so sorry…” Kanan hesitated. “If…if would make things easier, if I wasn’t involved-”

“No,” Hera said firmly, “No, he’ll have to get over his prejudice on his own.” She swallowed thickly. “Will you come see me? Tomorrow?”

“Whenever you like.”

When he got back to the table, even Mace looked eager. “Well?” Depa demanded.

Kanan sat down with a thump, reality hitting in one heavy blow.

“I’m gonna be a dad,” he said softly.

**Author's Note:**

> Kanan being ‘Kanan Dume’ was me trying to reach a compromise...He changes his name from Caleb because he doesn’t like it, but he keeps Dume because that was his parent’s name. Or something.


End file.
